Chicago Marathon Race Report: Getting After It!

About a week ago now, I raced at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon.  This was my fall goal race and I honestly did not know what to expect when I was standing on the starting line before the race.  I had had several ups and downs in my training since Boston.  I completed this race in 2:56:55.  Sub-3 hours!  Good, right?  Not quite.  I set my marathon PR in Philadelphia the previous November and ran 2:54:02, slightly fading after opening in 1:25 even.  My training block had gone very well, running the best marathon workouts of my life.  I was faster and stronger than ever before.  My tune-up race, the New Bedford Half Marathon, had not gone well.  I ran 1:21, slower than I had run at this distance the pri

or fall.  My coach told me not to worry because I did not taper for the race, keeping the mileage high.  The goal was to run fast at Boston, not before then.  This affected me mentally going into Boston.  I lacked confidence even though the training was there.  After running a disappointing marathon, I did not allow my body to recover from the race.  I was angry and I wanted to train.  This, however, was a mistake.  I quickly developed a hamstring injury, as I came back to running too much, too fast, too soon.  I was plagued with this injury throughout the summer, finding it difficult to run most days and get through workouts.  I was stubborn.  I did not take any days off or seek help from a physical therapist.  My summer races varied due to this injury and running in the heat.  I set a 5k PR (16:37 on a downhill course) and also ran a 17:52 (did a 3 x 5k workout in 18:00 before Boston so this was pretty bad).  I started to feel better and training picked up in September as the weather cooled off.  I used the Salem Half Marathon as a tune-up race and ran, you guessed it, 1:21.  I was on 1:17 pace through 5 miles but the legs were not there.  This time, I reasoned that it was because I had run 100+ miles the week before and 90 during race week.  I looked at this race as a good simulator for marathon pace, not as what I am capable of running a half marathon in.  I continued to train hard before Chicago and went through a solid taper week where I really backed off for me (40 miles plus the race, and 75 the week before).  I was rested and ready to give it a shot at Chicago.  I follow a lot of the elite American marathoners and watched the US Championships at Twin Cities the week before Chicago.  I saw Tyler McCandless and Pat Rizzo lead this race for the longest time.  They led even though there were runners in the race with faster PRs.  I admire that they did not run scared and went for it.  It sort of gave me confidence to take a shot myself.  I arrived in Chicago on Thursday night before Sunday's race.  I stayed with one of my two best friend's from home and he took great care of me.  When we discussed Sunday's race, I had decided that I was going to get after it.  I was going to run with confidence and target a 1:21 opening half.  The goal was to run a low 2:40 (2:39 possible on the best day) marathon time.  I targeted 2:43, with a sub-2:45 being a solid place to be.  When the gun went off, I was ready to give it everything I had.

I had a great starting position, placed right behind the elite runners at the front of Corral A.  I took it out in a 6:08 mile.  The goal was to be around 6:10 pace.  I executed my race plan perfect for the first 13.1 miles.  I followed up the 6:08 first mile with a 6:09, 6:09, 6:07, 6:13, 6:04.  I reached 10k in 38:14.  I was consistent through the half, reaching this point in 1:20:48.  I was on pace for a 2:41:36 marathon and was averaging 6:10 a mile.  I ran the opening half in a tight pack of 5-6 runners, each of us trading off leading and setting the pace.  I was racing!  Things could not have been going better.  I was hydrating and fueling well.  This was turning into a very good day.  The Chicago Marathon is a fun, big city race.  The only downside is that the crowd is heaviest during the opening half of the race.  You are on your own for a large portion of the second half of the race until you get close to Grant Park and the finish line.  I went out aggressively and began to fall off pace at about 25k.  I was still on 2:42 pace at this point and 2:43 pace at 30k.  The last 10k was rough.  I was at 2:05:20 at 20 miles and needed a 40:39 to keep it in the 2:45 range.  I ran 41:58 (6:45 pace) over the last 10k.  35k to 40k was my worst stretch.  I split 21:18 during this portion and had a couple of 6:50 miles.  At mile 25, I saw my friend and he gave me some encouragement to push hard for the finish.  My final mile, from 25.2 to the finish, was 6:36.  I managed to drop it down a little and worked very hard to get to the finish line.  I crossed in 2:47:18 (6:23 overall pace).  This now stands as my marathon PR.  I am happy with this but know that I can do better in the marathon.  I do not regret my early pacing.  I gave myself an opportunity to run 2:41 and am satisfied with my finish time because I went for it.  With better pacing, it is possible that I could have run 2:43-2:45.  This is why I know there is potential for me to keep improving at the marathon distance.  I did finish 281st overall of almost 40,000 runners and was 22nd in my age group.  I had a great race experience in Chicago and learned how to be a confident runner.  After finishing the race, I found my friend and we hopped on the 'L' (do not call it a 'T' Boston people!) to work our way back home.  I was still wrapped in my solar blanket and my medal was proudly hanging from my neck.  When we walked underground and were standing to wait for the 'L', people around me started clapping.  Everyone else around me joined in and this went on for a solid amount of time.  I was a little embarrassed and shyly waved my thanks to everyone.  Many asked me my time and were very impressed with my 2:47.  This was such a special moment.  It is moments like this that make the training 100% worth it.  I was humbled.

What's next?  Recovery.  Recovery.  Recovery.  Then speed.  Then marathon build-up.  Taper.  Boston Marathon.  Smash my 2:47 marathon PR and BREAKTHROUGH.  This is going to be the theme as I train for the Boston Marathon.  Chicago was a mini-breakthrough, but Boston is where I take things to the next level.

Run hard, train smart, have fun.

David

1:21 and that's okay

My last tune-up race before Chicago was at the Salem 'Wicked' Half Marathon two weeks ago.  My goal for this race was to simulate how I will feel at Chicago.  I originally picked out the time goal of 1:17 and as you can see from this title I was four minutes off.  That's quite a bit of a difference.  When the race began, the eventual winner (in 1:06) took off and one person followed close behind.  I quickly found myself in a third place pack.  I was running alongside two other runners from the start and we were battling for 3rd, 4th and 5th place.  We took turns leading and pushing the pace.  Our first mile was reached in 5:45.  We slowed a little, as the course featured some rolling hills early on, but reached 5 miles right on 1:17 pace.  After 5 miles, however, my day was beginning to end.  One of the guys I was running with made a little break and gapped me by out 10 seconds by mile 6.  This was discouraging.  I did not slow down; he picked up the pace.  I simply could not go with the move.  I then began to fall off pace and found myself running alone.  I reached 10 miles in 1:01 and was not where I wanted to be.  I worked through a stomach cramp at around 10.5 and actually stopped at a water station to take in fluids and stretch.  This probably cost me around 45 seconds or so.  I ended up 8th (dropped a little due to the stop) in 1:21:10.  I did take home 1st place in my age group and took home a pint glass!  Without the stop, I would have been in the mid-1:20 range.  My technical PR (I say technical because the course was long) is 1:19:56.  I would not have been too far off of that.  I still feel like my half marathon PR is pretty weak because I feel I can continue at this pace for 26.2 miles.  All of my recent races have been run on 'tired' legs, meaning there was no serious taper.  I am not giving myself a chance to run fast at this distance.  The week before Salem, I peaked with a 100 mile week.  My long run the week before was 22 miles with the last 5 at 5:54 pace.  During the week of the race, I totaled 90 miles.  I ran 16, 14, and 10 miles, respectively, the three days before the race.  This is not how one taper's.  I am not dissatisfied with this effort because I am aware that I trained through the race.  It is not a matter of not being to hold the pace I wanted to run, but to do it on depleted legs.  I think that I did a good job of simulating how Chicago will feel.  On fresh legs, I should be able to duplicate this effort and run in the low-2:40s.  This is my goal for Chicago.  I am putting my target on a sub-2:43 marathon and will be happy under 2:45.  If I have the right day and run closer to 2:39 that will just be an added bonus.  It is also important to note that I very recently (yesterday) started physical therapy at Foundation Performance to treat my hamstring.  It was diagnosed as a strain and appears more serious than I thought.  The doctor is not crazy about me running Chicago, but when have runner's ever listened to medical professionals?  We always know best (please note the sarcasm- but this is actually how we tend to think).  I am planning on a sizable break after the marathon.  I have never taken more than a day off before jumping back into training and this needs to stop regardless of the outcome of the race.  Many elite runner's take two weeks completely off from running after a marathon.  I will be satisfied with one and then one week of light running (read as no workouts).  I am starting to get more excited for Chicago.  I am confident that my PR is about to drop in a very big way.  After this, I will rest and recover so that I can have a small indoor season where I can focus on distances from the mile through 5k.  I also want to road race before this in November and December and concentrate on the 5k and 10k.  It will be fun to do some faster running!  For now, the focus is making it through Chicago and taking care of my health.  I am ready for a BIG result in the Windy City.

David

Trying to find that balance

It's been a busy time for running.  I spent the summer months (June, July and August) working and running in southern Vermont.  It was a difficult summer; I have never been more determined or tired in training.  The results were varied.  After a fast 5k at Hollis and a less than stellar 10k in Boston a couple weeks later, I did nothing but train until early August.  I took a family vacation to San Francisco at this time. It gave me a little break from the hilly area where I had been working the entire summer.  I also signed up for a half marathon: The Giant Race.  The cool part of this race was that the finish line was on the field at AT&T Ballpark where the Giants play.  I felt confident going into this race and felt I could put my 1:19:56 (on a long course) half marathon PR to shame.  I felt relaxed heading into the race and felt good after my two mile warm-up.

 When the gun went off, I went out hard.  I realized a couple of miles in there were people running a 10k as part of the race.  Had I known this, I likely would have made the conscious decision not to try and stick to the original pack of runners I was in after the first couple of minutes.  This pack hit the first mile in 5:35.  That's fast!  I tried not to panic and made the decision to slow by about 10-15 seconds.  I did this and hit mile 2 in 5:50.  At this point in the race, during the third mile, I got a side stitch.  It forced my pace to slow drastically.  It also put a relentless attack on my attempt to breathe at half marathon pace.  My pace went from 6:00 to 6:15 to 6:30 pace within the next couple of miles.  I was upset.  I thought I was in good shape to run a fast time, somewhere under 1:17.  Instead, I got a side stitch that stayed with me until the finish line.  It was a struggle to finish this race.  I thought about dropping out, being very far off of my goal time and clearly falling victim to something I had very little control over and could not fix.  It was a disappointing run to say the least.  I tried to clear my head during the rest of my week in San Francisco.  I explored the city on my feet and made the most out of things.  I ran up Lombard Street.  I ran through the Haight-Ashbury district where the hippies lived (or still live?).  Towards the end of the week, I ran from my hotel, to the Golden Gate Bridge, across it, and back.  I received spectacular views of the city and of the Pacific Ocean for my efforts.  It was a great week of running.  I came home and suffered through a couple more weeks in Vermont, running in the heat

and up a never ending series of hills.  On my last day there, I ran to the top of Mt. Snow.  I did this last year, but managed this feat without stopping this time.  Now, I have returned to familiar stomping grounds as I have returned to Providence for my senior year of college.  I want to stress balance with this post.  I beat myself up this summer in Vermont.  I put a lot of strain on my body and was not completing workouts at the caliber I wanted them to be at.  I have recently started to take one iron pill and Vitamin C gummy each day at my coach's recommendation.  I am starting to feel stronger and feel like I have regained

some energy in my training.  I am running the Chicago Marathon in just five and a half weeks.  I have about four weeks of hard training (while trying to stay healthy) to get myself into sub-2:40 marathon shape.  I will also be running a half marathon in two and a half weeks with the intent of running 1:17 or faster.  I have ambitious goals for the fall but hope the balance and familiarity of school will help keep me on track.  Recently, I have put together a string of nice workouts.  I did an 8 mile tempo at 5:58 pace.  I tried out a classic Kenyan marathon fartlek workout of 30 x 1:00 on/off.  My long run finally went over 20 miles, as I did a little over 21 with the last mile in 6:00.  This past weekend, I did a 17 mile long run and averaged 6:15/mile for the last 8.  Today, I did a tough (4,2,1) x mile(s) workout.  The four mile rep was in 23:30, followed by a two mile rep in 11:49.  The last mile in the workout felt very smooth in 5:37.  I am starting to feel fast again and hungry to race in the next few weeks.  It's time to get after it in training.  Good luck to everyone prepping for a fall marathon or goal race!

BAA 10k

Just over a week ago I raced at the BAA 10k.  This was the BAA's first race since the Boston Marathon bombings.  The race was held on Sunday, June 23rd, at 8:00 a.m.  I felt good heading into this race.  Training has been going well and I was decently rested.  The only factor preventing a good time, of course, was the weather.  At the start of the race, it was already 80 degrees and humid.  This is not ideal but I decided to stick to my pre-race plan anyway.  The goal was to be under 35:00 or at least in the 35:00 range.  This goal was right in line with my current fitness and training.  It would require 5:38/mile on a day where the conditions were less than ideal.  Before the start of the race, there were a few ceremonies honoring the Boston Marathon victims and their families, as well as the first responders.  It was a nice moment.  With a couple of minutes to go until the start, the elite men and women were brought out.  I was already lined up in the front of the field and right off of the start line.  The elites took their place right in front of me.  I was lined up behind 2013 Boston Marathon Champion Lelisa Desisa.  I was also behind Jason Hartman, Stephen Sambu and Aaron Braun.  It was exciting to be standing w

ith many of the people I look up to in the sport.  When the gun finally went off, the elites took off, and I ran with them for a few precious seconds.  They stayed within my vision for the first couple of miles.  I hit the first mile, running in a small pack, in just under 5:40.  Everything was going fine but I knew I had worked too hard for the first mile.  It felt like I dropped under 5:30.  My second mile was just over 5:50.  The wheels were starting to fall off already.  The heat was weighing me down, holding me back.  I tried to run steady and block out the negative thoughts but the third mile was not any easier.  There was a decent uphill climb and disappointment was settling in as I ran a very slow 6:15 mile.  At this point in the race, on the out and back course, I saw the elites fly on the other side of the course.  It took my mind off of the difficult second half of the race as I watched them run in awe.  I attached myself to a small pack of three runners and simply tucked in behind them.  We reached mile four in 6:00.  I was starting to feel a little better, but 6:00 pace was the best I could give on this day.  My original plan for the 10k was to try and make a strong move from mile 4 to 5.  I saw myself running 5:40 pace through the first 4 and then try to drop to 5:35 pace at this point.  I see this kind of strategy in the 10k to be optimum.  Run hard for the first half of the race and then try to find another gear in the later stages.  On this particular day, I just did not have it but I still made a small move.  I broke from the pack that had carried me through the fourth mile and hit mile 5 in a little under what mile 4 was in.  I paid dearly for this move, however, as I was locked into 6:00 pace for the final mile.  It was a struggle to the finish.  The splits did not change, but it hurt running a pace that should be much more comfortable.  As I reached mile 6, I was caught by one of the runner's from the pack I ran with at mile 4.  She made a small move and pulled ahead during the final .2 miles.  I stayed right behind her.  When we finally made the turn and could see the finish, I felt relief and started to kick.  I pulled up alongside the woman I was running with and then she pulled ahead again.  I then put my head down and sprinted hard to the finish.  This was pretty close to the finish (maybe 200m) and I ended up ahead by 7 seconds. 

This makes me think my kick was actually pretty solid, even on a bad day.  I give her a lot of credit for pushing me through the second half of the race and setting me up for a strong finish.  She ran very well and finished as the 9th Female!  Congrats!  I ran a 37:17 10k and averaged an even 6:00/mile.  This was about 20 seconds a mile slower than what I had intended to run.  I averaged what I hope will be my marathon pace in the fall.  I will use this race as a learning experience.  I learned to push myself in the heat and familiarized myself with running in a pack during the tough middle miles of a race.  These are invaluable lessons and something that will help in the future.  Now, as July begins, I am working myself back into marathon training.  My mileage has been between 70-80 miles in May and June, with all of the racing I have been doing.  Now, I am building back up to 80+ miles a week, with 90 and 100 mile weeks approaching as I get closer to Chicago.  I am excited at the opportunity that Chicago will bring.  I want a chance to prove myself and to earn a good result from the hard work I will do over the few months.  I want to breakthrough at Chicago.

Fake, Confidence-Boosting 5k PR

Well it's about time!  I have been training, seemingly endlessly, for the past couple months to take down my 5k PR.  It finally happened!  I ran the Hollis Fast 5k last night and let me tell you, it's FAST.  The course drops a little over 200 feet on the 3.1 mile course.  The race was the USATF New England Championship for 5k this year.  There were so many talented runners and teams that came out for the race.  The men and women started separately to allow the competitors to be with their field.  We actually started at two different locations and then merged onto the same road.  At the start, the weather was in the 50s and lightly raining.  Runner's do not mind this for a June 5k!  Due to the initial combustion at the start line, I was actually (and thankfully) prevented from going out too hard.  I ran the first mile in 5:14.  About a month ago, I hit my first mile (on a flat course) at the NE Distance 5k in 5:12.  This time, I ran a pretty controlled first mile.  I actually did not know my split for the first mile because the battery on my watch died.  There was no clock and I did not hear anyone shout out a split.  This is the point in 5k races that I want to work on most.  I know I can get out fast and I know I have a solid finishing kick.  It is the middle mile and first part of the third mile that I have to work my hardest to maintain pace.  It is much easier to drop off pace at this point and "coast" the last two miles.  Right after I crossed mile 1, a couple runners I was with dropped off a bit.  Another runner came charging forward and was heading towards a pack close in front of me.  I followed.  I told myself that I would not back off, that I was going to get under 17:00.  I could have fell back, but I pushed forward and caught the pack and did my best to "hang on."  The clock read 10:45 when I reached mile 2.  I knew I had been delayed a few seconds before crossing the start line so my time was right on 10:40 (5:20 pace).  Awesome!  I knew I would still have to keep pushing in the third mile to get there.  I positioned myself behind a masters runner from the Greater Lowell Road Runners.  He was still going strong and I stayed close behind him as we moved past some runners in the last half mile.  When I hit the three mile mark, I had no idea what my time was.  All I knew is that I was going to pick up my pace as much as I could and sprint until I crossed the finish line.  I moved my arms furiously, put my head down, and kicked.  I crossed the line and saw the clock read somewhere in the low 16:40s.  I knew my gun time would be in the 16:30s because of my delay before the start.  This was one of those moments where I finally felt the joy in running again.  I train hard and sometimes do not see the results of that hard work.  I need a race like this to give some life to my running and to encourage myself to keep training.  It is worth it and it will always be worth it.  You cannot let results that do not live up to expectation get the best of you.  There will always be another race and another opportunity to improve as a runner.  I finished in 16:37 (5:21 pace): 5:14, 5:26, 5:24, :32.  My third mile was faster than my second, which is very encouraging.  The funny part of this race was that the best of the best in New England showed up to race: both men and women.  I placed 113th overall.  There were about 1400 finishers.  I cannot think of too many 5k road races where 16:3x does not give you a chance to win or at least finish somewhere in the top-5 or top-10.  The top 4 runners were all sub-14:00 with the winner Tim Ritchie of the BAA finishing in 13:47.  Around 150 runners were under 17:00 and 350 under 20:00.  Hollis is quick.  That brings me to the main takeaway from this race.  I ran a PR on a downhill course.  I finally felt happy and satisfied after a race, but I know the course did some of the work.  I do not know how much though.  My old PR was 17:24.  I know Hollis is not :47 seconds faster.  I picked a good day to run well and now I have a new time to strive to meet and surpass in any upcoming 5k.  The race did give me quite a bit of confidence.  I was having some truly bad races trying to get under 17:00.  It was a mental nightmare.  I psyched myself out before a couple of races and doubted myself.  There is no reason I cannot come close to this time on a flat 5k course.  I have a 10k coming up and another 5k.  I am going to put in more quality workouts and keep my mileage steady in the 70-80 range (a week).  I feel that I am now ready to start serious training.  I am ready to begin to attack half marathon and marathon training for the fall.  I know there will be challenges.  There will be some ups and downs.  The important thing to know is that all of this is worth it.  I can feel the joy in running again and encourage everyone to find it too.  It makes everyday running that much better.

Gaspee Days 5k

This was an exciting one!  The race takes place amidst the Gaspee Days Parade in Cranston, RI.  This parade commemorates the 1772 burning of the British revenue schooner Gaspee in Pawtuxet Cove ahead of the Revolutionary War (Boston.com).  I had put in a solid workout the Tuesday before the race: 2 mile repeat, 800m, 4 x 400m, 800m.  This went well and I ran solid late in this workout during the 400s and last 800.  I then did a light 8 x 1:00 hard workout on Thursday.  The Gaspee Days 5k would be on Saturday.  I took the Friday before the race very easy and felt reasonably good heading into the race.  I am still looking to improve on my 17:24 personal best, which I ran last February in the middle of marathon training.  I know I am in very good shape now, as I am running faster in my workouts than I have ever done before.  My plan for the race was to try and go out conservatively, meaning 5:30, and try and hold this pace.  Three miles at 5:30 would place me at 16:30 and then I would cut it very close to the 17:00 barrier.  Race morning was met with some sunshine.  The original forecast called for possible rain or clouds but the weather turned out a little warmer with the temperature being in the low 60s.  I executed my race plan well in the first mile.  I went out right at 5:30.  Looking back on this, I should have tried to run 5-10 seconds faster and stick with the small pack of runners in front of me.  At the first mile, I was running with a small group of about three other runners who fell of the pace shortly after.  Then, I was all alone.  The second mile featured a gradual downhill followed by the same uphill, as I hit the turnaround point on the course.  The uphill took something out of me and I slowed to a 5:46 mile.  Too slow.  I did a 5 mile tempo at 5:46 pace before the Boston Marathon.  My third mile was even worse, right around 6:00.  It did, however, include a decently sized hill at the end of the race which did not help.  My sprint to the finish was fine.  I ran the .1 in 31 seconds, proving I still had something left in my legs but should have tried to use it in the second and third miles.  I keep putting myself through these shorter races and have not seen any improvement of late.  I expect a lot from myself but my last two races were 18:03 and 17:52 (time for Gaspee Days).  This is where I was last summer.  I have not felt right since Boston.  I have not felt the same "pop" in my legs I felt throughout the marathon build-up.  My workouts were much longer and I was running fast.  I recently ran a sub-5:00 track mile and have put in some quality workouts.  I am hoping that I will see everything come together very soon.  It is difficult to train as hard as I do (or as hard as I think I do) and to not see the concrete results of my hard work.  This brings me to the present.  I am running a 5k tomorrow night and have the opportunity to give myself a break.  I have a chance to cheat a little bit.  I am running the Hollis Fast 5k.  This is the USATF New England Championship for the Grand Prix Series at the distance.  The course is very fast.  It is a point to point course that drops 224 feet from start to finish.  Last year, I ran 17:28 and grabbed 1st in my age group.  I was really in 18:00 shape at that point last summer but let the course work its magic.  I feel like I am knocking on the 17:00 barrier on the right day.  That day is tomorrow.  If I get the right day and run a good race I should see an end result that will make me happy.  Even if it is not "official" it would still pick me up and help improve my attitude right now.  I have been letting my nerves get the best of me lately.  I have given in too early in the races I have run.  Not tomorrow. 

Training Update, Hello June!

I quickly got back to work after a disappointing result at this year's Boston Marathon.  I still managed a 2:56 but I was not feeling it from the start.  I definitely wanted to be in the low 2:40s there.  I ran a solid half marathon (1:19) in Providence four weeks after Boston.  I came in 7th overall and won my age group.  I then ran a 5k the following week and put up a less than ideal 18:03.  This is well off my PR, which I was poised to break.  I went out too fast in this race (5:12) with the early leaders and faded the last two miles.  This race had a more humbling effect on me.  I cannot show up to races and expect good things to just happen.  Last week I put in two quality workouts.  The first was a 5 x 3:00 workout with equal recovery on the roads.  I felt great during this workout and was running fast throughout the repetitions.  That was on Wednesday night.  On Friday morning, I went to my old high school track (with my coach) to be paced through a 5k.  The plan was to run consistent 5:30 miles and finish in the low 17:00 range.  I stayed on pace through 1.5 miles and fell off by about 200m or so at the end and finished in 17:40.  This was not an entirely encouraging effort, as it is still off my road PR.  I was running a little tired from Wednesday's workout, but I still wanted to be faster.  This workout, however, was good in indicating an area I need to work on.  I need to work on running fast late in 5k races.  I need to be able to come through 2 miles in 11:00 or under and still feel reasonably good.  This is something I will begin to work on improving this summer. 

On Wednesday of last week, I ran an all-out track mile.  This is something I rarely do and something that awakens my nerves.  In practice, I feel comfortable doing workouts.  I complete them, hit my goal paces, and leave them feeling strong.  When it comes to racing, I get nervous.  Right now, it has a lot to do with running into the unknown.  I am trying to run times I have never run before.  Whether the training indicates I can run a certain time or not, I need to be confident that I have what it takes to reach a time.  As of late, I have looked at my training and thinking I should be much farther along in racing.  This is different from knowing you can set a new PR in a given event.  I need to put the fun back into racing and be excited for an opportunity to run fast.  I need to be confident in myself and know I have what it takes to finish a race strong because it will hurt.  This brings me back to Wednesday.  Before the track mile, my coach asked me if I was excited to try and break 5:00.  I sort of shrugged and did not show much emotion.  My response should have been something like: YES! LET'S DO THIS.  Instead I stayed calm, which is fine, but went to the start line lacking some confidence.  I was to be paced by my coach through the mile, running a steady 75 seconds for each lap and then kicking at the end.  I put on my track spikes and we lined up at the mile mark to ensure we would be going 1609.34 meters.  Then we took off.  We rolled through the first lap hitting it exactly in 75 with the little add-on 9 meters.  Another one of our club's coach was reading us our splits as well.  I was not looking at my watch during the mile, but stayed tucked in and focused behind my coach.  The second lap was another 75.  We were right on pace through halfway.  The third lap is often a difficult lap in the mile.  I did my best to hang on and prepare for the final lap.  I heard Hunter (that's one of our club coaches who was there) yell out 3:47 when we went through 1200m.  It would take under a 73 last lap to break 5:00.  After going through the first 200m on the final lap, my coach moved into lane 2 and told me to give it everything I had left.  I kicked and I kicked hard.  I flew around the curve and hit the homestretch.  My arms were pumping furiously as I sprinted to the line.  When I crossed the line I hit my watch and looked up.  It read 4:57 and I let out a little bit of a yell.  Yes, I showed some emotion.  It was probably more out of relief than anything else but I was pumped.  I do not train for short distances but I still want to get faster at them and see some improvement.  I got that on Wednesday.  I executed a time trial excellently and broke the 5:00 mark.  This will give me a confidence boost moving forward and get me excited to race my next time out.  I am confident I can break 17:00 in the 5k and I will take my shot in another week.

For now, I am up working and training in Vermont.  I'm sitting at 2000 feet of altitude and hope this gives the smallest boost to my training.  I have plenty of hills and mountains to climb.  After reaching a new milestone in the mile, I hope I can continue to find success on the roads this summer.  I know the training I do this summer will provide big dividends in the fall when I line up for the Chicago Marathon.  I know I will be confident, and excited, to run my best come fall.

What is this amateur hour?- NE Distance 5k

This past Sunday, I ran in the New England Distance Project Community 5k in Woonsocket, RI.  This race helps provide support for the athletes who are a part of the NE Distance Project, which is a post-collegiate running group.  The group currently has two athletes who receive housing and train locally.  These athletes are working to compete on the national level.  They also hold part-tome jobs, in addition to training, where they serve the community in some way.  I hope that this group, and others like it, continue to grow and be a positive force in their respected communities. 

I was excited for my first opportunity to race a shorter distance post-Boston.  My goal in the 5k is to break 17:00, which comes out to about 5:28/mile.  Earlier in the week I had a very strong workout with my running club.  I ran 3 x mile in 5:35, 5:29, and 5:18.  It felt great to cut the time down through each repeat.  The last repeat, done in 5:18, felt pretty comfortable.  I tucked in behind my coach on the track and ran steadily behind him.  This workout felt smooth.  I also did a light workout on Friday.  I ran 8 x 1:00, with 1:00 rest.  In 15:00 (8:00 hard, 7:00 recovery) I went 2.65 miles.  This equals 5:40 pace overall, including all the recovery.  This means my 1:00 segments were well under 5:00 pace, with the recovery around 7:30 pace or slower.  I felt very good about both of these workouts.  This is the fastest I have been doing mile repeats in training.  I felt confident and determined heading into Sunday's race.  I knew the field would be small and that I would have a chance of competing up front.  I was too certain that I would PR and that everything would go according to plan.

I have always seen myself as a smart runner.  Many young runners go out too fast in road races and this ends up costing them time later in a race.  Last weekend, I ran a half marathon and went through the first two miles in about 5:45 for each of them, before reaching the hills on the course and maintained 6:00 pace throughout the rest of the race.  At the first mile, there were several other runners with me but then they did not run the rest of the race near me.  Many of those runners finished the half marathon with an overall pace over 6:30/mile.  It is not beneficial to go out like this.  The start of a big road race is exciting but there is something to going out right on goal pace or even a little slower.  With this being said, I acted in this exact way on Sunday.  The race began on a downhill and when we were given the starting command I went out hard.  I soon found myself in 4th place.  There were two runners in the lead, and the third just in front of me.  I worked aggressively to bring in this runner in the middle of the first mile.  This is not where races are made and I should not have focused on moving up in place.  I should have stayed within myself and made sure that I would have the energy to carry me to the finish line to reach my desired time.  I hit the first mile in 5:13. 5:13!  My indoor mile PR (which needs to go, only having run one of them) is 5:11.  I could have dropped two seconds if I had really wanted to.  My first mile put me on pace to run

(NE Distance 5k finish)

16:12.  This sounds nice, doesn't it?  The only problem was that I still had 2.1 miles left.  I think I panicked after going through the first mile so quickly and made a conscious effort to slow down.  The course goes up a small hill shortly after the first mile and I backed off pace.  The only problem was that I backed off too much.  My day was over after the first mile.  My legs were gone.  I was out of the race mentally.  I hit the second mile in 5:54.  This is getting closer to half marathon pace, not to mention in marathon training I hit 5 mile tempos at 5:45 pace.  That was the average for a 5 mile workout, not a 3.1 mile race.  I should be able to hold 5:30s or under in a 5k race.  I faded even more in the final mile, splitting 6:53 for the final 1.1 miles (6:12 pace).  Alright, that's right around what marathon pace looked like before Boston.  I finished in 18:03.  Pathetic.  I simply burned myself out early, and in turn, ran my worst 5k result since October.  I know this race was one week after I ran a half marathon, but I'm done making excuses.  I run great times in training and then cannot get it done in races.  I wanted to break 17:00 and could not break 18:00.  Even if I went out too fast, I should not have slowed as dramatically as I did.  It's frustrating.  I feel like I've wasted months of great training by not racing to my potential.  I feel like I keep failing.  I want to compete at a higher level.  I want to run faster times.  I need to prove to myself that I can do this and that all of the training I do is worth it.  I, however, just keep putting up very average times to me.  I feel like I'm letting Team David down.

David

United Healthcare Providence Half Marathon

I have been frustrated.  I have been frustrated since I crossed the finish line at the 117th Boston

(Up the Boulevard- mile 4)

Marathon.  For the amount of time and effort I put in preparing for Boston, I came up well short of my goals.  I did not run a time indicative of my fitness and came nowhere near my potential that day.  I have been reckless since Boston.  This is what I do when I do not like a result.  I jumped back into training, blaming myself and thinking that maybe I did not work hard enough to run the time I had hoped for.  I did not, however, run too many workouts in the past month.  My first workout back was two and a half weeks after Boston.  I decided after this workout that I would run the United Healthcare Half Marathon in Providence on May 12th.  This would provide me with an opportunity to get over my performance at Boston.  The half marathon course goes through my usual training grounds.  I knew every turn and where every hill was going into the race.  My body felt good but not great before the race.  I knew I was still recovering from Boston but I needed to deliver a solid run to get some confidence back.

The race:

After a slight delay to the half marathon, the gun went off and the race began.  The field began to separate by the first mile, which I went through in 5:42.  At this point, I was running in the top-10 and felt reasonably good.  My second mile was 5:46.  Then, the course climbs until you reach mile 3.  I kept my effort the same as my first two miles and split a 6:15 on the uphill mile.  The course is very challenging, featuring a good number of uphill and downhill miles.  My next four miles were all around 6:00.  I split: 6:06, 5:57, 6:04, 6:02.  I then recorded a 6:22 mile up Pleasant Street at mile 8.  This mile is virtually a gradual uphill climb the whole way through.  My next two miles were a combined 12:08, back closer to 6:00 pace.  I reached 10 miles in 1:00:25.  My last 5k was very challenging.  I dug deep and kept moving forward.  I covered this distance in a disappointing 19:30.  I would have liked to have held pace late in the race.  The course also did not help, as there was another big uphill section on Pitman Street leading into mile 11.  My closing 1.1 miles was in 6:34, which comes out to 5:58 pace.  This is encouraging that I pushed it to the finish line.  I crossed the finish line in 1:19:56 (6:06 pace).  This a new official half marathon PR, something that has eluded me since the fall.  I think I would have been able to keep my earlier miles in the 5:45-5:55 range had I been well rested.  I finished in 7th place overall out of nearly 2000 runners and took a 3rd place age group award.  I also want to thank the volunteers at the race.  They were all great and encouraged me along the course!  Overall, I am satisfied with this effort.  It was nice to go out and run consistent miles in the 6:00 range on a difficult course.  I should also mention the course was a little longer than 13.1 miles.  I measured it to be 13.4 miles.  This is pretty significant.  It would put me around 1:18:12 (5:58 pace) for the half marathon.  I measured the course to be 10.2 miles at the 10 mile mark.  This would have put me at 59:14 through 10 miles.  Either way, I still ran a new PR.  I think I was in 1:14-1:16 half marathon shape before Boston.  I am excited with my half marathon time in Providence, but I know I can run faster.  I am going to focus on the shorter distances this summer and attack my PRs from the 5k to the half marathon.  I am running the Chicago Marathon in October and am optimistic about achieving a real breakthrough in the marathon.  After a hard summer of running, I will be ready for Chicago.

Thoughts on Added Security:

This was my first race after the Boston Marathon bombings.  While Providence is a small city, it still made security a priority at the Cox Rhode Races.  There were police with automatic weapons patrolling the start/finish area and they were reportedly questioning spectators with backpacks.  Police also walked with bomb sniffing dogs among runners and spectators.  This personally did not make me feel safe.  I did not feel entirely comfortable competing in a race where I can see automatic weapons close to me.  We are starting to see the immediate backlash of the Boston Marathon bombings.  You have to consider if the police are questioning every spectators or if racial profiling is involved.  Acts of terror in recent years in the United States have been the work of domestic terrorists.  It is also important to ask if money could be better spent other than on police carrying automatic weapons at road races?  Who supplied the money that paid for the extra security?  While defense and security is important, we have a better chance of breaking racial and cultural boundaries by focusing in areas such as education.  I do not mean to be political but the added security did not have a calming effect on me as it may have for others.

Boston 2013: Heartbreak and then more Heartbreak

(mile 17)

My usual post would have gone something like this: I would describe how I felt going into the race, then tell you about the race itself, and finish with the details of my post-race celebration.  This telling of the 2013 Boston Marathon does not seem so important now.  Instead, I will tell a similar narrative but with a very different ending.  The Boston Marathon has been referred to as the 'Super Bowl' of marathons.  It is the dream race for so many in the running community to compete in.  If you tell someone you run marathons, the follow up question is often times, "Have you done Boston?"  For me, Marathon Monday was supposed to be very special.  I marked it on my calendar the day I achieved my qualifying time in the early fall of 2012.  I felt proud to have reached this goal and knew I had earned my way to the starting line in Hopkinton.  In my last marathon (before Boston), I ran 2:54 in Philadelphia.  This was back in November.  Since, I have trained harder and faster than ever before.  I entered Boston believing a 2:40 time was a real possibility.  On Monday, however, my body and mind were never in the race.  My legs felt heavy from the start and I simply never settled into race pace.  I tried to relax and enjoy the crowds when I knew it was not going to be my day.  The support was unbelievable on the course.  I ran through the Wellesley scream tunnel and the girls there deafened me with their cheers.  I ran past my family at mile 17.

(mile 25)

("I finished Boston.")

It was a great moment.  I gave them a wave and carried on my journey through the Newton Hills.  While the hills were doing their best to slow me down even more, I saw more family members at mile 19.  They yelled to me and I waved back.  They gave me a nice boost.  Although I was struggling and could not figure out why, I knew I would be able to finish the race.  I then made it to the top of Heartbreak Hill.  My time goal was gone and my day was long over.  Every step was a struggle.  The BC students did their best to pick me up as I made my way to mile 22.  I then entered Boston and the crowds grew from there.  They were 5-10 people deep at times, with everyone urging on the runners to the finish.  My family was again at mile 25 to cheer me on but I did not see them this time.  I was in survival mode.  They told me I looked focused and in the zone.  I felt depleted and hopeless.  Finally, I reached the most famous two turns in all of running.  I made the historic right turn onto Hereford Street.  The crowds were going crazy, I was so close to the finish.  I climbed Mt. Hereford and made the final turn of the course, a left onto Boylston.  I was inside a half mile of crossing the finish line and could see it at this point.  I pushed on and finished in 2:56:55.  This is not a PR.  I did not have a race that I am happy with.  My day was over early and it was a struggle to the very end.  I ran the closing miles of the race slower than many of my 'easy' training days.  I did, however, finish Boston.  I did not stop.  I did not quit.  I would be lying if I told you these thoughts were not in my head very early in the race.  There are three little words that not everyone can say and that now I can: I finished Boston.  While I did not have the race of my life that I envisioned for weeks before the race, I can still say these words.  I am a Boston Marathon finisher.  I received my medal and I can wear my jacket with pride.  This is the point in my retelling of the race where I say I am determined to do better.  This was not my best effort and I will be back.  While this is all true, there are other events that need to be told and thoughts that still need to sink in.

12:57 P.M.- This is the approximate time that I crossed the finish line at.  I was exhausted, disappointed with my time but happy that I finished.  I would be able to proudly wear my medal and jacket.  I would be able to have a nice celebration with my family in Boston.  I walked through the finish line area and made it to the family meeting area.  Because of all of the people at the race, it took my parents and the rest of my family until about 2:00 P.M. to finally find me.  When they did, I was cold and shivering.  I was wrapped in my solar blanket and my lips were turning blue.  It was not a pleasant feeling to say the least.  We moved inside a building so I could warm up a little bit.  While there, a man came up to me and shook my hand.  He told me what an accomplishment it was that I finished Boston and that I was a champion.  I did not feel like much of a champion but this was one of the nicest exchanges I had ever had after a race.  This man cheered me up and I felt a little better about my race.  After all, I had just crossed the finish line of the greatest marathon in the world.  I started to begin to feel a little better and started to focus my attention on where my next meal would be coming from.  We left the family meeting area around 2:30 and went to Maggiano's Little Italy a few blocks away.  I was with several of my family members: my parents, sister, two uncles, an aunt and one of my little cousins.  We sat down around our table and started to relax.  I thanked everyone for supporting me throughout the day.  It meant a lot.  They toasted my efforts from the day and congratulated me on my run.  It was great being with my family, enjoying each other's company.  At 2:50 P.M., we were being served our main courses.  The mood at the table was light.  All of a sudden, a woman exclaimed at a nearby table that bombs had gone off at the finish line.  There was immediately talk that this was a terrorist attack, with the implication that it was foreign.  The finish line that I had crossed two hours ago?  It could not be true.  I then started to receive an influx of text messages asking my whereabouts and if I was alive!  We finished eating very quickly, paid our bill, and left the restaurant for our car to go home.  When I walked outside the restaurant, the scene was something close to panic.  There were people walking the streets, in all directions, with nobody seeming to give much notice to the next person.  It was a scary sight.  We were able to leave Boston quickly and we listened to the radio.  We listened as descriptions were given for what was happening at the finish line.  I got home and took a long shower.  I was drained from the day.  I made my way back to school and fell asleep not long after.  When I woke up, the events of the previous day began to sink in.  It could have been me; it could have been my family.  At any point in the race, the bombs could have gone off.  When we were still in the finish area at 2:30 P.M., we were close to where the second bomb went off.  It is scary to think about how close we all were to danger.  My heart goes out to the victims and their families.  Whoever is responsible for this attack should know that the running community is the wrong group of people to mess with.  I watched on the news how race volunteers and doctors were among the first responders.  They put their lives at risk and ran towards the fire as opposed to running away.  I saw that many runners ran to the hospitals to donate their blood right after the incident.  I have already seen countless running clubs and organizations plan group runs or events in honor of those affected.  The running community has stayed strong over the last couple of days.  My heart goes out to all of the runners who were not able to make the right on Hereford and left onto Boylston.  This was supposed to be something for all runners to experience and now there are many who are scarred to come back to Boston.  We still do not know who is responsible for this attack.  Right when the event happened, however, I immediately heard people call it a foreign terrorist attack.  I just ask for people to keep an open mind until federal and state authorities conduct their investigations and find the people or group responsible.  It could very well have been the work of a domestic terrorist group.  There is no need to fear what we do not know and put blame on people who were not involved.  This was a tragedy but speculating on what we do not know will not help us recover from what we experienced.  The Boston Marathon was supposed to be a race for both runners and fans to enjoy.  This did not happen.  I can tell you that I will be back in 2014, or at least that I want to be back in 2014.  I am qualified for the race again and will not hesitate to sign up.  I want to again express my thoughts and concerns for everyone affected by the events from this past Monday and hope that the running community continues to stay united as one in this difficult time.

David

Reflections

It's finally here!  I will be running in the 117th Boston Marathon tomorrow, April 15, 2013.  I have been looking forward to this day for months.  I have been following my training plan, running upwards of 85 miles a week.  This includes countless workouts, doubles and long runs.  The work has been done.  I have spent the last week or so tapering.  I did my last workout on Wednesday and completed a 5 mile tempo in 28:52 (5:46 pace).  Before the Philadelphia Marathon I did a 5 mile tempo in 30:04 on the Tuesday before the race.  The result: a 2:54 marathon.  I am clearly in much better shape heading into Boston and this is something I really need to stress to myself.  Before races, I tend to psyche myself out and have a good amount of nervous energy.  I wonder about where I will finish and how fast I will get there.  I look at my training and question if there is anything I could have done differently.  In my taper week, I have dropped my mileage and have had a few days of running 6-8 miles right around 7:00 pace.  I have done my best to stay calm and relaxed over the past few days.  I have made sure to get my sleep over the past week too.  There is nothing left to do.  Tomorrow I will find myself on the start line in Hopkinton with a 26.2 mile journey ahead of me.  You can learn a lot about yourself throughout the course of a marathon.  You find out what kind of person you are.  The marathon challenges you to be tough.  All I can ask is that I respond well to race pace tomorrow and do my best.  I want to feel strong during the race and have specific targets I will look to hit.  My goal is to take the race out conservatively, running about 6:15 pace (or even a few seconds slower) through 10k.  Then, I will really look to drop down into marathon pace and try my best to hold it until the Newton Hills.  I hope to be in the 6:00-6:10 range from the 10k point up to mile 17.5.  At this point the race really has begun (the hill at mile 16- the 128 overpass is really the first big climb).  I will run by effort through the hills until I crest Heartbreak.  At this point, I hope to have some energy left to use for the remaining 5 miles.  The Graveyard mile (21-22) is a fast, downhill mile.  From 22 on, the course drops a little more and the crowds pick up until the finish in Boston.  I cannot even express what it will mean to take the famous right onto Hereford and then left onto Boylston.  I have been training for this moment.  I have put everything into training for Boston 2013.  I am ready.  The emotions will certainly be high on race day.  Tomorrow is an opportunity to live up to the motto of Team David: Never Going Back.  I am going to leave everything out on the course tomorrow and want nothing more than to run a great race.  I cannot help but to think back at where I was a few years ago.  Back in high school, I was not one of the top runners on the cross country team.  I was not even close.  I never broke 20:00 in the 5k in high school.  I certainly was not in the kind of shape I am in today.  I have worked very hard to get to this point.  It started with one half marathon, which I ran in 1:45 (8:00 pace).  My last marathon averaged 6:38/mile and this was just a year and a half later.  My philosophy to running is simple: get out the door and run.  I try to get the most out of myself in each day of training with the hope that I will keep improving.  I want to encourage others to do the same.  You can accomplish so much through running.  Every race and every finish line give motivation for the next one.  I just want to say thank you to everyone who has been with me and has supported me since I have started running marathons.  It may seem crazy at times but I find peace through running.  I see tomorrow as another chance to chase my dreams from Hopkinton to Boston.  Tomorrow I will take the stage in Boston and put everything out there.

Never Going Back,
David

Thank You Notes, Round 2

It's now one week out from the Boston Marathon.  That's usually when I check my inbox, return some emails, and of course, send out my marathon-versioned thank you notes.  If everyone does not mind, I am running a bit behind schedule and was wondering if I could write them out now.  Here goes:

#1 Thank you to the sponsors of Team David: my family and friends.  This marathoning thing is not easy.  There is no way I could do it without any of you.  My parents and sister show up to every race and always encourage me to keep chasing my dreams.  I want to give a shout out to all of my friends.  By now, I am sure you are all tired of hearing me even mention the words "run" and "Boston."  You all still stand by me and want to see me do well.  This means a lot to me.  I want to personally thank my "new" roommates.  I moved in back at the end of September and have never been happier.  That makes all the difference in running.  I do not say it enough, but you guys really do not know what your friendship means to me.  The support I get from all of you gives me something to run for.  Team David is a growing organization so get your membership now!

#2 Thank you to my coach, Alan.  Alan is part of Team David but I wanted to give him his own spot.  I have learned so much in this build-up and am very thankful for all of your effort and hard work in getting me to the start line fresh.  Part of the battle of the marathon is making it to the start line ready to go.  I know I sometimes run more than I should and a little faster than I probably should too but without you coaching me, I probably would have gotten hurt.  It is important to know when to run easy and when to go for it.  The workouts you wrote for me in this build-up were tough and I look forward to keep making improvements.

#3 Thank you to winter.  In particular, I would like to give a mention to my good friends Snow and Wind.  You two came out to play nearly every day over the past couple of months.  Instead of going inside and using a treadmill (as some would say a reasonable person would do), I went to battle with you each and every day.  And who won?  I am going to take the decision in this one.  It looks like we are finally getting some spring weather and I am still here.  Many look at the weather in the winter as obstacles but I met them as a challenge in each day of training and that made it fun.  You both taught me how to be a "tough New England runner" and I thank you for that.

#4 Thank you to dogs.  I have been putting up with your barking and jumping for much too long.  Every time I run past you, you just have to say something to me.  And it's never anything nice!  It's always the smaller dogs too.  They seem to put up the biggest fight.  I have been chased down the road by many of you, but the joke is on you.  I was going to keep running anyways!

#5 Thank you to the hills.  All of you.  I hear there is this little thing called Heartbreak Hill coming my way in a week.  I personally want to mention Smith Hill, Jenckes Street, Freeman Parkway and Olney Street.  All of you have done your part and I would much rather climb Heartbreak than any of you.  Thank you for giving me the strength I need to conquer the Newton hills on Monday.

#6 Thank you to power bars, cliff bars, and GU products.  You all do your job to fuel me both before and after runs.  As a newly converted vegetarian (which I do not mention much on here) I am grateful for the protein I take in from these products.  Is it a problem that I actually like their taste too?

#7 Thank you to making new friends on the run.  It is nice to be a part of the Rhode Runner Racing Club.  It is nice to have company on our weekly runs.  It can get lonely as a distance running, who runs a majority of his miles on his own.  I would also like to thank people in two different instances.  The first happened about a month ago.  I was running near Roger Williams Park and I ran past someone on the sidewalk.  As I went by, he yelled, "Are you training for that thing...Boston?"  I yelled back, "Yeah!"  Then he proceeded to wish me luck.  It is moments like this that really get me.  I don't know this guy.  I will most likely never see him again and could not tell you what he looked like.  This guy gave me a greeting and wished me well at Boston.  It was a simple encounter but brought me a lot of joy.  Another instance happened a week ago.  I was doing a tempo run at marathon pace and someone pulled up alongside me on a bike.  He started to talk to me and told me he had been a marathoner years ago and ran Boston in the '80s.  Cool!  He then biked and talked with me for about two miles until we went our separate ways.  It was nice to have some company and it took the pressure off of the running.  I was able to concentrate on our conversation and the running felt easy!  I really enjoy the community feel of running and hope I can find ways to use my own running as a public good in the future and try and help other's with their goals.

#8 Thank you to those lovely people who yell "Run Forest Run" at me when I am running.  This is not an original thing to do.  I repeat: This is not an original thing to do.  That is all I want to say on this subject.

#9 Thank you to the haters.  While there are so many on the Team David bandwagon, there are always people who want to see you fail.  They gain from another's loss and this is not right.  You provide a great deal of motivation for me.  Why can't you just be happy for other people's accomplishments and focus on what you can do to help yourself.  Spend some more time evaluating your own goals and what you stand for instead of knocking someone else's.  As the rapper Evidence says, "Success will be the best revenge."  This is what I strive for, not to hurt others, but to be the best me I can be.  I will be happy if I know I gave it my best on Monday.  That is all I can ask for.

#10 Thank you to the year that was in 2012.  I gained a deeper perspective of marathon running.  In 2012, I started four marathons and finished three.  The year began with disappointment at Boston.  I prepared diligently, as I did in this cycle, for my first Boston Marathon.  Then, temperatures approached 90 degrees on race day.  This is not something I can control but that day still haunts me today and is something I constantly think about.  What could I have done differently?  I told myself I did everything to prepare for the race and entered the Cox Marathon in Providence.  I ran 3:11.  I was on 3:05 pace through 20 miles and then fell off pace a little towards the end.  I missed out on getting my BQ then.  I spent the spring and summer months training and racing.  I set several new PRs across the different race distances and got myself into great shape for a fall marathon.  I ran the Lehigh Valley Marathon on one of the last days to get a Boston qualifier for 2013.  I ran 3:03:14.  I did it!  I felt an array of emotions when I realized I had reached this goal and crossing the finish line was one of the best feeling's I have ever had.  I then capitalized on my fitness and ran a 1:20 half marathon at Hartford and 2:54 marathon at Philadelphia in November.  I started to work with my new coach at the end of my build-up for Lehigh but then he helped me prepare for Hartford and Philly.  2012 was a roller coaster of a year for running.  It started with a low and went up from there.  Looking back on what I was able to do, at where I started in the first place, gives me all the motivation I need at Boston.  I started the 2013 racing season with a 1:21 half marathon.  It was slower than I ran at Hartford which was in October.  This was not indicative of the kind of shape I am in now.  I expected something in the 1:15 to 1:16 range based on the workouts and mileage I have done in this build-up.  I have been running faster than ever and feel great!  I am going to capitalize on my fitness and put it all out there at Boston.  So, I had a bad race.  Looking back on 2012, I know what I was able to do after one bad race.  There wasn't something right about the day.  All I know is that April 15, 2013 will be perfect.  After Boston, I will set new goals and keep moving forward to another level.  Nobody can come between me and ambition.

Those were my thank you notes.  Some of them were serious, others were meant to be on the funnier side or something that runners can relate to.  I kind of went off in my last thank you note, but it needed to be said.  I really strive for excellence in a very difficult sport and it helps to have a better perspective on where you came from and what you hope to do.  My advice to the people who read this (1000+ views now!!) is to take a piece of paper and write your running goals down.  It can be a certain time or simply that you want to run a couple days a week.  Then write down on the page a list of things that will help you get there.  This is something I do for myself.  It helps me to visualize what it is I want in my training and to see the tools that I can use to make it a reality.  Keep at it everyone and prove to yourself that you can reach your goals.

ONE WEEK UNTIL BOSTON,
David

(note: I first saw Thank You Notes on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  He does it every Friday night to start off his show and it's pretty funny!)

The Art of the Long Run

Whether you are training for a distance from the 5k to the marathon and beyond, the long run remains one of the most important workouts for any runner.  The long run helps to build endurance and prepares you to excel at your goal race.  In my current build-up for the Boston Marathon, I have placed a high importance on getting in a quality, weekly long run.  Over the past fifteen weeks, I have averaged 85-90+ miles a week, hitting triple digits twice.  Many of my training days involve a high number of miles and lengthy workouts.  The long run, however, receives my full attention each week in its planning and execution.  I like to do my long runs every Sunday.  Here is what I totaled across the last fifteen weeks:15, 16.5, 17.2, 18, 12.4 (down week), 17.6, 14.3 (5k race, doubled), 21.3, 16.5, 18, 20.6, 22, 17 (half marathon), 18, 18.  You can see that early on in the plan, I built my long run from 15 to 18 miles before having a down week.  After that, I was up close to 18 again before running a 5k race.  I then went over 20 miles for the first time.  I put in a solid stretch where I was over 20 miles in 3 out of 5 weeks.  I topped out at 22 miles during this cycle and ran 18 miles three weeks and then two weeks out from Boston.  What does all of this tell us?  Nothing!  A closer examination is needed to see what helps to give me an edge from this weekend workout.  The first step is acknowledging that the long run is, in fact, a workout day.  My running philosophy is that, in order to hold marathon pace come race day, you need to practice running at that pace in your long run.  This is why the long run is so important.  There are other workouts, such as tempo runs and strength workouts (ex: 3 x 2 miles) that help with pacing.  The long run, however, provides an opportunity to run at distances close to the marathon where you can simulate how you will feel during the marathon.  My goal for the Boston Marathon is to try and run in the low 2:40 range.  A 2:40 marathon averages 6:06/mile.  This brings up the most important point I want to make.  Practice running at goal marathon pace in your long run.  Increase the pace of your long runs.  Many people will tells you to go out and run 1-2:00 minutes a mile slower than what you expect to hold in the marathon.  Think about this.  For someone want to hold 6:53 a mile and break the 3 hour marathon barrier, you would be doing your long runs between 7:53 and 8:53 pace.  I think this is much too slow.  Yes, you will gain endurance but you are teaching your body to run at a slower pace.  I would much rather see an athlete be closer to :30 seconds to 1:00 from their goal pace.  You should run comfortably hard during your long runs.  The goal of the weekly long run, however, is not to take so much out of you that it affects your next week of training.  It is important, as always, to find balance in training.  Try alternating weeks where you do a fast finish long run one week and you run steady the next (this can be 1-2:00 slower than goal MP).  A fast finish long run simply means that you run at a steady pace until the last 3-6+ miles.  In the finishing miles, the goal is to increase your pace to marathon pace and then hold it late in the run.  Teach your body what marathon pace feels like and then try to drop under marathon pace for the last couple of miles.  This is a tough workout and I would not encourage doing this every week.  I would incorporate it into training once or twice a month in a marathon build-up.  The benefits of making it through faster long runs are substantial.  You will have spent more time running closer to marathon pace at distances that are close to the full 26.2 miles.  Also, consider the confidence that you can bring with you to the start line.  I have run a number of sub-6:00 miles at the end of 16, 18, and 20+ mile runs.  This is a good feeling!  When I get into the late stages of the race at Boston, I will know that I have run fast deep into several previous runs.  I hope this philosophy for the long run makes some sense.  Treat the long run as a workout day.  Focus on pacing.  Run at a pace you can sustain but do not be afraid to pick it up towards the end and see what you have left in you.  Then, take this confidence with you after running strong at the end of your long runs.  This will help take some of the pressure off of yourself when racing.  You will know you have put in the work.  You will know what race pace feels like and that you can maintain it late into the race.  With anything, practice this in moderation and remember to place an emphasis on recovery too.  Take your easy days easy.  Good luck to everyone running spring races and see if attacking the long run a little faster in training will be beneficial for you!  Find what works best for you!

See you at Boston,
David

Under Pressure

New Bedford was supposed to be the race to test my fitness.  It was supposed to indicate what kind of shape I was in.  It, however, did not quite work out that way.  I ran a 1:20 half marathon back in October, followed up by a 2:54 marathon in November, which could have been a little faster if I had paced better early on in the race.  Since November, I have endured four months of marathon training.  I have been running more mileage than ever before, averaging between 80-100 miles for the last 16 weeks or so.  My workouts have been tough.  I have been completing marathon specific workouts and have been running much faster than last fall.  Some example workouts include: 6 mile tempo at 5:40 pace, 3 x 2 miles at 5:45 pace, 4 x 2k at 5:40 pace, 3 x 5k in 18:00 each, 5 x 1.5 mile repeats under 5:30 pace.  This is a sample of what my workout days look like.  I have been giving full effort in this build-up to Boston.  I feel like I am in the best shape of my life.  My weekend long runs, which have ranged from 16-22 miles, have helped me to gain strength.  I have been averaging around 6:40 pace for my long runs and leave them feeling as if I could have pushed the pace much faster.  With all of this being said, I expected that I was due for a big race and half marathon PR.  I have not raced at a distance over 5k since the Philadelphia Marathon in November.  While I went into the race physically in top shape, I do not think I was there mentally.  Nerves got the best of me last Sunday.  I placed a great deal of pressure on myself to do well and the thoughts of failure crept into my head in the moments before the race and then I could not hold pace.  I have put everything into this cycle.  Every distance runner knows the sacrifices you have to make to stick to your plan.  I place an immense burden on myself to race at a high level.  I did not have any confidence on the start line.  I feared the unknown, and instead of proving myself, I let doubt settle in.

The race:

I got to New Bedford plenty before the start.  I went for a 2 mile warm-up a little under an hour before the race.  I was already feeling nervous.  I then went into my usual routine of stretching, form drills and striders.  Then, it was time to begin.  I lined up a little farther back than I should have, or maybe not given where I ended up.  It took me 7 seconds to get across the line.  I was blocked for the first couple minutes of my race and worked too hard early on to put myself in better position and to catch-up to people hoping to run faster times.  I hit the first mile in 5:42 but I did not move very far in the first 10 seconds or so of the mile due to all of the runners.  I ran the second mile, into a headwind, in 6:00.  These would be my fastest two miles of the day, and I should note my goal coming into the race was to hold 5:40-5:50 pace.  I forget every year how difficult the New Bedford Half Marathon course is.  The third and fourth miles incorporate very steep hills.  They force you to back off pace, but still do damage to your legs early on in the race.  I went through these miles at about 6:15 pace for each.  This could have been too fast with the elevation gained.  At mile four, the course turns and flattens out.  From miles 4 to 12 there are no significant hills and you can really dial into race pace.  I, however, could not do this.  My day was already over and I had no idea why.  I could not drop under 6:00 pace and each step became a struggle.  My legs felt fine but my spirit was down.  I do not know why this happened.  Training has been going well and I have been running at much faster paces in workouts.  I tried my best to hang on throughout the entire race, but I was not having any fun out there.  I put in all of this hard work in the winter months in the cold, wind and snow.  I had not let any of these factors interfere with my training.  For some reason, I just did not have it.  I gradually slowed from 6:00 pace to 6:15 pace in the middle miles (8-10).  At mile 10, there were two miles into a strong headwind where I split 6:34 and 6:30.  Terrible.  The last mile of the race features a long uphill climb that is sure to slow you down that late in the race.  Then, you come around a turn and see the finish line and have a nice downhill finish.  I ran 6:33 for the last mile and 20:12 for my last 5k overall.  This was not encouraging.  I finished in 1:21:34 (6:13 pace overall).  My goal for Boston remains a 2:40 marathon.  I know I am in 1:15-1:17 half marathon shape.  I just wish I had not placed such a high amount of pressure on myself at New Bedford.  This was my only tune-up race for Boston and nerves took me out of it probably before the start line.  I have been training to hold 6:00 to 6:10 pace for the marathon.  This is what I am going to try to do.  I need to remember to stay relaxed and calm.  Fast times are going to come, but it is equally important to have fun.  I need to remember why I started doing this in the first place.  I want to know that I am improving each day and doing my best.  If I can say I am doing these things, then I am on the right track and need to be happy with myself.  It is time to stop putting pressure on myself and to find the thrill I got out of finishing my first races and that feeling of accomplishment.  This is what I want to feel when I cross the finish line at Boston.  Regardless of the time, I want to run free.

(for coverage of the New Bedford half and to see videos of some fast local guys, check out http://www.levelrenner.com/)

Consolation Prize:

Two years ago I ran the New Bedford Half Marathon.  It was my first go at the distance and I learned several valuable lessons in distance running.  While I am not a veteran yet, I have completed a number of half marathons since and moved up to the marathon.  I have run New Bedford three consecutive times and have run progressively better with each one.  This is encouraging.  It allows me to take a step back and see where I started from.  It is funny that I am complaining about a 1:21 half when my first was in 1:45 and just a year ago my best was 1:30.  Now that's improvement!  This leaves me optimistic about the future.  I will be back next year and I will be stronger than ever.

2011 NB Half- 1:45:17 (8:02 pace), 879th of 2373, top 37%
2012 NB Half- 1:30:40 (6:55 pace), 382nd of 2778, top 13.75%
2013 NB Half- 1:21:34 (6:13 pace), 179th of 3135, top 5.5%

Run Happy (but seriously),
David

What it takes

"All it takes is all you got." - Marc Davis

105 miles totaled this week, here's a breakdown of what that looked like:

Monday- 11+ miles, easy day (long run previous Sunday of 20 miles)
Tuesday- AM 10 x 3:00 hard (2:00 rest) for 13+ total miles, PM 4 miles easy
Wednesday- AM 10+ miles, PM 6+ miles (both easy)
Thursday- 14+ miles on a snow covered bike path
Friday- 3 x 5k (all around 18:00) workout for 14+ total miles
Saturday- 10+ easy miles
Sunday- long run 22 miles

This was a BIG week in the build-up for Boston.  It will most likely be my high for total mileage in one week.  I like the balance of easy and hard days from this past week.  I had my toughest days on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.  The rest of the days were equally important, helping me reach my desired mileage for the week.  Here's what my workouts looked like.

(Heartbreak Hill)

Tuesday- On Tuesday, I drove to Wellesley so I could put in this timed interval workout on one of the toughest sections on the Boston course.  I am fortunate to live close enough to the course to do this on occasion and it also helped that I was on spring break from college this past week.  I parked in downtown Wellesley just before mile 15.  I did my warm-up from there until you make the "firehouse turn" onto Commonwealth Ave.  This is where many say the "race" begins at Boston.  It signifies the start of several rolling hills that concludes with the infamous Heartbreak Hill just after mile 20.  I started my workout here and did half of the repeats to get me to the top of Heartbreak and then the other half backwards on the course.  The workout, 10 x 3:00 hard (2:00 rest), is a nice break from doing measured repeats on a track.  If you are struggling with track repeats, give these a try!  I have done time intervals, such as 10 x 2:00 or 5 x 5:00.  You simply try to settle into your tempo pace and run hard during the fast section of the repeat and then jog to recover in between.  I averaged 6:20 pace during the workout (48:00 of running- 30:00 fast, 18:00 recovery), which includes the rest portions.  This means I was in the 5:40 range during the hard running of this workout.  This is encouraging because I was running through the hills of Newton.  This is the kind of workout that provides some confidence come raceday.  It is important to train on similar courses that you will be running your goal race on.  If you cannot make it to the course, look at its elevation online and try to map out something similar near you that you can run on to simulate it.  This will help better prepare you for any race!

Friday- This was the toughest workout I have done in my build-up to date, and might be the most difficult I have done in my life.  I completed a 3 x 5k workout in the snow/rain with 20+ mph of wind.  In these ideal conditions my splits were: 18:03 (5:48 pace), 18:09 (5:50 pace) and 18:03 (5:48 pace).  Awesome!  I was thrilled with the result of the workout.  Nine miles of quality running and even splits.  My third repeat was the same as my first, which I was very happy with!  This was one of those grind it out kind of days.  The conditions were rough, my legs were tired, but I stuck it out and put in my best workout of the cycle.  Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come!

Sunday- Long run: 22 miles 2:25:50 (6:37 pace overall).  I ran the first 22 miles of the Boston Marathon.  I started in Hopkinton, passed the train station in Framingham, went through Wellesley and battled the hills of Newton.  This was a solid long run.  It brought with it the end of a 105 mile week.  I went into this run with 83 miles already on my legs in the previous six days.  I am not rested.  My legs are not fresh.  I eased into the run, passing through the first 5 miles in 34:10 (6:50 pace).  I picked it up from there and went through the half in 1:27:30.  My last 4 miles were in 25:50 (6:27 pace).  This included another trip up Heartbreak Hill.  After cresting the hill, I ran my final mile, the "graveyard" mile, in 6:00.  It felt good to run a fast mile at the end of a 22 mile long run.  The key from this run was that I did not push the pace, except during the final mile.  I ran comfortably and strong the whole way.  I felt great post-run too.  My legs did not feel too tired.  I ran 22 miles but I did not hit the wall and ran my fastest mile last.  My goal is to try and hold 6:06 pace for the marathon.  This would put me at 2:40.  A 2:37 marathon would mean running 6:00 pace.  This long run allowed me to tour most of the course and left me feeling I could run a lot faster once I am rested and ready to race.

Up next: On Sunday I will be making my third trip to run in the New Bedford Half Marathon.  This year feels very different to the previous two.  New Bedford was my first half marathon just two short years ago.  I was a newbie.  I had no idea what I was doing out there.  I ran 1:45.  The next year I returned to New Bedford and ran 1:30.  A 15 minute improvement!  Right now, my personal best sits at 1:20 set at the Hartford Half Marathon this past October.  I have been training to run much faster than that come Sunday.  I am ready to "let it rip" and try to run a fast half marathon.  This is my tune-up race for Boston and it will help indicate what kind of shape I am really in.  I feel like I am due for a big time PR.  The competition will be very strong on Sunday and I hope that running with New England's finest will help pull me to a fast time.  It will be important to stay positive all week and hope for the best on Sunday!

Run Happy,
David